


Scoops troop

by orphan_account



Series: Unknown secrets [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Death, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gore, Multi, PTSD, idk - Freeform, injuries, it is ericas fault, slight jealousy, some more stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: You and Steve have been dating since eleven defeated the mind flayer. Well. You thought it was defeatedRewrite of season threeReader is part of scoops troopAlso Steve is so sweet but can be a total oblivious jerk. We all know that though
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Max mayfield x Lucas Sinclair, Steve Harrington x Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader
Series: Unknown secrets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738654
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like me to do small oneshots from this stories universe please comment and tell me so!

You slide your hand down the shelf holding all the cheesy romance novels, Mrs. Wheeler was a frequent visitor to this section. You flipped open one out of curiosity and read “her heart skipped a beat, she knew she shouldn’t want him- but she can’t help herself he’s just-“ with that you snapped the book shut, inwardly groaning at the cliches. You exit that section and trudge into the science fiction isle instead. You grab a random book, flipping it to look at the blurb on the back. “A small town overrun with secrets. Unseen monsters, and a threat they have yet to uncover.” You set it down, shuddering. Memories flash back from the tunnels, Steve getting beat up by billy, Max almost getting eaten. You force them to the back of your mind, trying to steady your breathing. You shut your eyes, counting to ten. You open them and see you are in the mall. You are fine you assure yourself. 

The lights in the mall flicker, “—what the-“ you mutter , glancing up at the lights. It stops, then you walk over to the counter. Then all the lights in the mall die out. it is almost like all light scenes to exist. You tense up, something is wrong. You hope your just being paranoid. The lights flash back on and you relax, it was just a freak power outage at the mall. 

You bike home, exited to see Max. She always tell you stores of her day, of her and Lucas. She usually complains about the latter, but you know how much she loves him. Max sometimes goes over to his house, but he never comes over here. It is an unspoken rule. Peddling up to the driveway you check for Billy’s car, you don’t see it and exhale a breath you didn’t know you where holding. 

You walk up the stairs, seeing photos of you and your sister, fake smiles and sad eyes. Makeup covered bruises and clenched fists. You see a framed photo of your mother, one you know she took with your father. It was folded in half, framed as if nothing was wrong. Pushing the door open you saw Max sitting on the bed reading Wonder Woman comics. “How was your day?” You ask, flopping onto the bed. “Lucas is such an idiot!” She yells “he’s dumb and doesn’t know how to do anything right!” You smile, “it can only get better or worse Max.” She looks at you in confusion. You offer no explanation. “Dustin got home though!” She says excitedly “and he says he has a new “girlfriend” named Suzie” she says the last part sarcastically “maybe he does have a girlfriend!” You say in defense of the boy, she doesn’t know that he had a huge crush her before she and Lucas got together. “We scared the shit out of him by moving his toys around, with El’s powers then he sprayed Lucas with Farrah faucet spray for like, five minutes!” You laughed at that image. “You goin over to Steve’s house tonight?” You look up, eyes wide “You know about that?” You ask, bewildered. “I thought I was so quite!” She laughs “you where.” “How did you know then??” “Packed bags by your bed, bike under the window?? Every night?” “well yeah I am...” Max smiles smugly.

You kiss max on the forehead, “night Max” you say. You hop out of the window, landing with a soft thump. You unchain your bike, cringing at the noise is causes. Metal against metal. Quirky you mount your only mode of transportation and bike to your safe haven. 

“Steve!” You hiss, waving your hand at his window. He doesn’t respond. You start to grow worried after a few minutes. His window is open. Fear courses through your veins, tensing your shoulders you walk up to the door. It’s locked. Your unease grows by the second, you become desperate and start climbing up the wall to his window. Grasping the pipe trailing up to the second roof. It carries your weight. You mount the roof scraping your hands in the process. You are just tall enough to reach the window sill, you put your feet on the wall, launching you into the window. You landed on your feet, immediately clutching a large textbook that steve had on his desk You walk over to the lump in his bed, hoisting the book high, ready to hit anything that isn’t Steve. You hear a groan. “Steve?” You whisper He thrashes in bed. He’s having a nightmare. You slide into his bed, whispering comforting words. His eyes open “(y/n)?” His brown eyes petrified. “Yes?” His hands find yours “oh thank god your okay- I had another dream-“ you kiss his forehead “I’m right here. I’m safe” 

You both eventually settle into a fitful slumber, tangled in each other’s arms.


	2. Elevators and secret Russian codes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find the code, and then the elevator.

You watch while Steve and Dustin greet each other in an incredibly dorky fashion. They catch up, Dustin saying how he now has a girlfriend. He also shares that the group had “ditched him” last night,   
“Dustin! That’s awful! Why did they leave you??” You ask, surprised that they would do that.   
“Mike has to get el home, and Max and Lucas just kinda left.. Will stick around till about 9ish.” You feel sadness radiating off of Dustin   
“hey man, at least you got us?” You say gesturing to you and Steve. Steve nods. “However!” Dustin says enthusiastically “I intercepted a- secret russian transmission-“ he says, voice dropping at the last part.   
“Can you help me translate?” He asks, pulling out a Russian-English dictionary. “Sure Dustin.” Steve says.   
“Sounds good.” You add.   
“Meet you after I get off work?” You say, realizing you have to get to waldenbooks. 

You look at your watch. Time to leave. You clock out then head to the other side of the mall. 

“Hey robin!” You say to your freckled friend. She waves, obviously fed up with having to give Lucas’s sister free samples. You walk into the backroom to find steve sitting on the table, his chin resting on one of his knees. He drops his knee, then hops off of the table. He whispers in your ear “this is making my head hurt. I don’t understand any of this Russians shit.” You kiss him on the cheek, then stride over to Dustin.   
“How’s it goin?” You ask, suspecting the answer.   
“Not much progress.” He says, not taking his eyes off of the dictionary. 

Soon after robin walks in,  
“can I help?”  
“You haven’t been exactly quite so I know exactly what you are doing.”   
“You know Russian?” You inquire   
“no. I do know French, Italian, and Spanish. I have quite the ear!” She boasts, tapping her ears. 

It’s late into the night and you are still at the mall. You all have translated it, but don’t understand what it means. While Robin and Dustin whisper about the plausibility that this is in fact   
“not crazy. This must be some sort of Russian code!” You and Steve decide to take a walk. 

“Russians?? This is crazy, right?” You ask Steve   
“it’s half as crazy as the mind flayer and Eleven- so it’s possible.” He responds “true..” you say jokingly. Steve stops dead in his tracks. You turn around   
“what’s wrong?” He holds a finger to his lips, then on to his ear. Listen. You hear the same jingle in the background of the Russian code. 

He calls dustin and robin over, then drops a quarter into the slot.   
“— the exact same sound from the background of the transmission..” Dustin says. You put the pieces together  
“that means— it was not from Russia. It was from right here.” You say softly.   
“In the mall” robin finishes, fear and excitement flashing in her eyes.

You are at work, contemplating the Russian puzzle. You see Dustin and Steve walking around the mall, looking for the Russian you presume. You sigh, shelving books, thinking about the words that meant something to someone else   
“silver cat. Trip to China. Tread lightly. When blue meets yellow in the rest.” You just pull up a blank trying to think how they could be connected. You eventually give up and decide to relieve the person at the counter. 

You see Steve waiting for you outside of Waldenbooks, tapping his foot excitedly. He spotted you walking out and trotted over to your side, grasping your hand in his. “Robin cracked the code!” He said, steering you to a place you didn’t recognize.   
“Where are we going?” You ask not knowing what to expect.

“Look for imperial panda and Kaufman shoes.” Robin instructs you, Steve, and Dustin. You look down and see heavily armed guards standing at a large metal door. Dustin and Steve grapple for the binoculars, causing you and robin to share annoyed glances. The silence is interrupted by the loud clang of metal against metal. the binoculars had hit against the railing of the platform. Quickly the four of you duck out of view, Steve grabbing your hand, ready to run with you in tow. You hear someone yells in Russian, then the thump of heavy boots on concrete. You all jump into action, clambering silently down the platform praying that you don’t get caught. 

“The Russians are guarding something BIG behind that door, but the only way in is through a guard with the keycard and a massive gun.” Dustin says in dismay. Steve stands up.   
“I can sneak up behind him and take him out?” Steve offers.  
Dustin snorts   
“I have never seen you win a fight man.” With those harsh words he deflates, sitting back down, pretending to not care. You get an idea. Leaving the room you grab a wad of dollar bills form the tip jar, and walk out of scoops ahoy, leaving the rest of the group confused.

You walk back inside to an annoyed Steve, one exasperated robin, and a yelling Dustin.   
“Where have you been (y/n)?!” Steve demands. As a responds you wave a map of starcourt mall in his face. He steps back to examine it   
“oh.” Is all he says.   
“Yup.” You say proudly. After a few minutes you all figure out that all air ducts relay to the area you want to break into. 

You and Steve try to shove Dustin into the air vent   
“I don’t fit!” He yells after a few minutes of struggling. You step back, panting slightly. He manages to wiggle out Of the vent. He shakes his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension that had built up. 

Erica looks at the air duct in distaste.   
“I can fit. But what’s in it for me?”   
“Uhh- ice cream?” Dustin says. 

“Okay. I will do it. Under one condition.” She puts her finger to her chin, mock thinking   
“free ice cream for life.”   
“We can’t-“ Steve starts   
“for.life.” She says, more forcefully this time.   
“Deal.” You say, offering your hand out. She takes it.

“Commence operation child endangerment!” Robin says excitedly, making Steve shift from foot to foot. Erica wiggles into the vent, kicking her feet around, almost hitting you in the face. You hear her mumbling until you can’t see her anymore.   
“All we can do now is wait...” Dustin says, pointing out the obvious. 

You all head to the platform to wait for Erica’s arrival. Climbing up there you realize that what you are doing is crazy. Breaking into a russian base? Crazy. But you didn’t care, you feel that this would be important. 

Steve looks at you, asleep on his shoulder. You had fallen asleep at some point, from boredom or actual tiredness he doesn’t know. You snore softly, chest rising and falling with each small breath. He looks at robin who is gazing off into the distance, blond hair shining in the dimming sunlight. Then he hears the door slide open, he looks and sees Erica standing triumphantly in the open doors. 

You open your eyes,   
“wake up (y/n).” Steve whispers, gently shaking you.   
“Shit. Did I fall asleep?”   
He chuckles  
“It’s fine. Ericas here.” 

You walk inside the large room, boxes littered around it.   
“We should open one” Dustin suggests   
“Yeah” you Robin and Erica say   
Steve walks over to a box and hoists it onto a table with a grunt. He begins to open it, telling all of you to stay back   
“No. If you die I die.” Dustin says determined to stay where he is  
They pull out a large encased vial of glowing green liquid, it illuminates their faces in a ghastly way.   
Suddenly the room vibrates, you rush over to the door trying to open them. Erica slams her fist in a green button. There is a shudder, then the room drops straight down, walls speeding past you. 

You are all screaming, Steve is clutching Dustin as you all tumble around. 

It stops abruptly, causing you to slam to the floor. Robin helps you up and looks around in awe   
“I think this is some sort of elevator?” 

You have all been arguing for 5 minutes now when Dustin points out maybe you can climb up on top and see what’s going on. You volunteer.   
Wiggling up the hole, Steve holding your feet up.   
You look up finally, seeing now way out from the sides.   
Miles. Miles and miles up the shaft you can faintly see the door you came through. You let out a small yelp as dread settles deep in your stomach.   
“Steve. Steve. Get me down.” You say softly.   
You practically fall down into the hole, shacking.   
“Shit. We are so screwed.”   
“It- it goes on for miles up.” You say, hating the way it made you feel, like you where buried deep in the ground, suffocating slowly. 

It has been hours. At least that is what you assume, Steve and robin have been there up all “night” while Dustin tries to communicate via radio with no avail.   
You turn your head to Erica, who is banging the vial against some metal piping.  
“What are you doing??” You ask, afraid she might get hurt   
“Tryina bust this thing open so we don’t die of thirst!” She says it as if it was obvious.  
“You might die by that you know? We don’t know what that is.” She scoffed, continuing her actions.   
“Aren’t you and steve dating?” She asked, bored with the vial.   
“Yeah.”   
“Why do you ask?”   
“Oh. No reason. It’s just that he and robin are getting pretty chummy up there” she says, pointing up and wiggling her eyebrows.   
“He wouldn’t do that...”  
Right? You ask silently. No. He wouldn’t do that.   
Erica laughed, she had planted a seed of doubt and drama in your heart.

Robin dropped down the hole, sighing in defeat.   
“Nothin?” You ask, trying to hide the worry in your voice  
“Nope.”   
“We are trapped in here!” Dustin says, voice higher pitched than usual

Suddenly a whirring sound is heard,  
“We have company..” Robin announces 

You all scramble up onto the roof, not daring to breath. Erica still has the green chemical in her hand, casting a glow on her small face.   
Steve’s face lights up when he sees that  
He snatches it away from Erica and jumps down to the elevator room. He then uses the vial to lodge the door open.   
“Come on!!” He hisses urgently, doors groaning softly. Erica first, then Dustin, robin and Steve. Just as you are about to squeeze through the vial starts cracking, spiderwebs of cracks dancing along the glass. You hop through the doors just in time for vial to burst, large shards of glass getting embedded into your ankle.   
The liquids burns through the floor, hissing and popping all the way.   
You bend down, ripping the shards out of your ankle, barely wincing. This was nothing compared to glass injuries that you had sustained from billy.  
“Damn (y/n)! Are you okay?” Dustin asked, retching from the blood now spilling out of the wounds.   
“Yeah I’m fine. This is nothing compared to getting hi-“ you stop talking, not wanting to be pitied.   
Steve crouched down to your ankle, searching himself for some sort of bandage appropriate article. He ripped off his bandana and wrapped it around your ankle, concerned expression never leaving his face.

You walk down the seemingly endless hallway, talking about how the mall is just a front to bring in supplies for   
“whatever the hell is happening down here. And the green liquid must be powering something?” Dustin says, having been silent for a while.   
“Why Hawkins though?!” Robin asks. You and steve exchange knowing looks, he involuntarily shuddered. 

Dustin and Steve are walking behind all of you, talking in hushed tones. You knew what they where talking about, what if the Russians knew about the portal? What if that’s why they chose Hawkins?  
“Why did you do this?” You ask Robin   
“It was something to do.”   
“No other reason?” You ask timidly, worried she might like Steve. Damnit Erica!   
She cackles   
“Do you think I like Steve?”   
“He is so not my type! I prefer smart people!” You are about to defend him when she interrupts you  
“And if you are worried about him liking me, trust me he doesn’t. He practically talked about how “amazing you are” half of the time we where on the roof!”   
“O-oh..” your face turned red, embarrassed you ever doubted him. Erica was laughing silently beside you, her plan had worked! 

Dustin runs up to you, grabbing your arm   
“The code is playing!”   
The Russian code is looping over and over again on his walkie.   
“We must be close!” Steve says excitedly

You walked for what seemed like half an hour more, occasionally talking, occasionally not. 

You hear buzzing sound a little ways off, you ignore it at first but then see a small vehicle in the distance. Robin sees it too and slams all of you into another corridor. It knocks Erica on her butt, bumping along the floor. You all carefully peeks around the walls, seeing the area is full of soldiers and scientists. Erica mentions that she saw the comms room, rewarding a few gasps and annoyed grunts from the group. 

“No! We are not sneaking in there!” Steve says,  
“Yes! We need to get out of this hellhole!” Erica responds, spitting   
“Erica is right.” Robin and you say   
Dustin nods  
“Fine.”   
You all decide to sneak in low and fast. Steve first and the rest of you behind him. 

Robin starts speaking Russian, although only the phrases from the code.   
“серебряный кот” she says confidently, earring confused looks from the officer.  
“действовать осторожно” he becomes even more shocked by your presence.   
Steve screams and bum rushes the Russian. Fists fly and punches land. Steve quickly overpowers him, grinning proudly.   
“Good job at finally winning a fight!” Dustin claps him on the back  
You kiss him on the cheek  
“Good job babe”   
“Hurrah! You beat up a skinny Russian.” Robin says sarcastically. You notice Erica gazing out of the door with horrified awe. Through a door and at a giant electric drill being powered by the green vials. You all gasp.   
“What the hell...?”


	3. Misinformation and separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Russians and stuff 
> 
> Sorry it’s so short I’m going to do a pretty long one next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want me to do any other rewrites I can! Just give me the character!

What the hell is that?” Robin asks in horror as you watch an electromagnetic beam try and penetrate a concrete wall.  
To the upside down.   
“I don’t know-“ you lie. You look at Dustin, you can tell he agrees which what you are thinking. The gate.

Soon after you walk back to the comm room   
“Your Russian friend is gone” Erica says  
“Shit!” Steve cusses, realizing that he got away. An alarm sounds, alerting everybody of your presence. You hear footsteps coming your way, getting louder the longer you wait.   
“Run!” Erica screamed, coming to her senses.   
You all burst through doors, going room to room trying to avoid the soldiers. You kept hearing confused shouts in Russian and things toppling over. You eventually stop, finding yourselves trapped with only one door. And a large vent access point. You steve and robin try and block the door, while the kids climb through the vents. Robin starts climbing in when the Russians begin pushing the door open. The last words she hears from you is.   
“Get help!!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Russians want information 
> 
> WARNING BLOOD, GORE, TORTURE, AND MENTIONS OF ABUSE 
> 
> (It’s not the worst thing though)

A gun is held to your head, another to Steve’s. Its cold metal presses against your temple as adrenaline pumps through your veins. They throw you into a room, completely barren, with nothing to defend yourself with you slump against a wall. 

They dragged Steve away after a few minutes, his feet kicking and fist flying. You hear muffled yelling in Russian and English. You can make it the words  
“Who do you work for?!” This makes you worried, do they think you and Steve work for the government? Are they going to kill you? 

What seems like hours later an unconscious Steve is heaved into the room. You scramble over to him, frantically checking for broken bones or deep wounds. your hand caressed his face, bruised, battered and bleeding.  
“You mother fuckers!!” You scream at the small window, not caring what they do to you.  
A few minutes afterward another guard comes in, grabs you by the arms and drags you to a separate room. There was a man there and a table- full of scalpels and needles.  
“Who do you work for.” The Russian says in a thick accent.  
“Waldenbooks-“ he punches you in the face.  
“I asked, who do you work for?” His voice dropping in false happiness  
“What do you want me to say? The fucking government?” Another punch, breaking the skin this time. Blood gushes down to your eye, causing you to blink furiously.  
“Who. Do. You. Work. For?”  
“I told you, Waldenbooks!” He looks at the table, his eyes glint as he picks up a scalpel.  
“If you don’t want me to ruin your pretty little face, I recommend talking.” You wince.  
“I work for a bookstore at the mall, then me and my friend accidentally stumbled apon it when the supplies for the store didn’t come in.”  
“Wrong answer!” He traces the knife along your jawline, causing you to cry out in pain. Hot blood flowed freely from the slice, dripping onto your neck.  
“Last time. Who do you work for?” He drawled,  
“Waldenbooks.”  
He smiles, not bothering to clean the blood off of the scalpel. He dug it into the flesh of your leg, twisting it up then swiping towards your torso. You screamed in agony. He then turned to your face.  
“Such a shame to ruin such a pretty girl.” He says, mock sympathy  
“Burn in hell.” You managed through gritted teeth.  
With those words he hissed and made slashes on your leg. He then turns to the guard and orders something in Russian. 

They drag you back into the room, Steve tied to a chair, still unconscious.  
“He needs a doctor!” You demand as they tie you to another chair, back to back with Steve. You scream and kick, trying to gain attention.  
“Help! Hey assholes!! Over here!!”  
You hear Steve groan and immediately stop.  
“Could you shut up?” He says softly  
“I’m- I’m sorry I was just trying to get a doctor-“  
“What happened? Where are we?” You explained the Russians and the torturing, he started to squirm, trying to see your injuries.  
“(Y/n)? Did they hurt you? Are you okay?” He asks, his voice panicky.  
“Steve I’m fine! Not as bad as you..” you trail off, seeing a table with a pair of scissors to your left.  
“Steve. To your left.” He turned his head, gasping when he sees them to.  
“We gotta hop over there and then I will kick them over too you after I knock the table over?”  
“Yeah. Let’s give it a shot.” He says, voice growing more steady  
“These Russians are morons for leaving scissors in the room for us!” You say, trying to lighten up the mood. 

“One, two, three!” Steve says, having made it more than half way. You hop, then Steve hops a split second later, causing you to topple over and slam your head to the concrete floor. You wince in pain then do something unexpected.  
You giggle.  
“We are going to die here!” You say hysterically  
“No- no we are not-“ Steve tries  
“Yes! Yes we are! In a secret Russian base!”  
“(Y/n). Calm down. Robin and the kids are going to go get help. We are going to be okay.” He tries desperately to offer some sort of comfort. 

“I saw you in the hallway.” He says after a tense silence.  
“What?”  
“I saw you in the hallways before we met. I noticed the way your hair shimmered, the way you walked, and the fact that you never talked to anyone.”  
He paused  
“I even noticed the small bruises along your body that you tried so hard to hide, sometimes the makeup smudged, other times your sleeves hitched up on your arms, revealing nasty scratches that looked like they were from broken glass”  
You heard his breathing, loud and ragged. “Just in case we die I just want you to know-“ Suddenly the door opens , then the “doctor” clicked his tongue in disappointment. He walks over and props you both up, then pulls out a large needle. He strolls over to Steve, looking like he is enjoying himself. Then he hand it into his neck.  
“Steve!!” You screech, horrified. Then all goes black when the doctor injects the liquid into your neck.


	5. Truth serum and movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Steve get drugged by the Russian doctor, who are seeking the truth. You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry if the reader shirtless thing was weird I just thought that it would be dusty Gaston if they walked around Ina shirt covered in blood and bile so I made them wash it but then it would be all wet so this is how it turned out and I feel bad if it sounded like I was trying to oversexualize reader I swear I want it just turned out like that sorry.

“Morons! You messed up the drug!” You laugh  
“Yeah! I feel great!” Steve says, snickering. The Russian director returns, along with a newly arrived doctor, who begins taking out torture tools.  
“Who do you work for?” The director says, beginning to interrogate you both  
“Scoops ahoy! We found this- this crazy Russian base thingy in accident!” Steve responds, which makes the Russians angry. The doctor grabs some players and begins the process of removing Steve’s nails, when you see this you panic and tell them that  
“We found the code! We fought wind of the stupid Russian code! It was being broadcasted all across town that how we cracked it in a day!”  
“Do people know you are here?” He asks while the doctor retreats back to the table  
“Yes! And they are going to come and save us!” You say, confidence radiating off of you  
“Who” is his response to you  
“Dustin Henderson! He’s gonna come and somebody’s gonna save us!”  
“Where is this- Dustin Henderson-“ he struggles to say his name, contouring the syllables to accommodate his accent  
Steve admits  
“he’s long gone, probably calling Hopper, who is calling the US cavalry, who’re going to arrive and kick their asses..!” Threats which the Russians don’t take kindly. Suddenly the interrogation is interrupted by a loud alarm, ringing in your ears. The commanding officer runs out of the room, hollering orders. 

“Dusty!!” You yell, causing robin to smash her palm against her lips. Dustin had taken out the doctor with a cattle prod, while Erica and Robin untied the both of you.

Robin races a small car around the hallways, trying to get to the elevators as fast as possible.  
“This is like the indi 300!” Steve exclaims  
“No! It’s 500 you idiot!” You argue  
“How about we agree it’s a million!”  
“What the hell is wrong with them?” Erica asks, admitting it’s distracting. Robin swerves and crashes the vehicle  
“Get in the elevator!” Dustin screeches, warning for get out of the underground laboratory

You are all in the elevator, now ascending. You giggle hysterically as Steve attempts to surf on a pallet with wheels, but he stumbles.  
“Where you guys drugged??” Dustin asks, worried  
“I don’t do drugs! Only marijuana!” He admits, proud of himself  
“Is he going to die? Are you going to die Steve?” Dustin asks, alarmed at seeing Steve stumbling around, bumping into shelves.  
“We all die my strange little child friend. It’s just a matter of how and when?” Robin says, amused by you and Steve situation. 

Dustin asks Steve where he parked his car if they  
“can stop at the food court?” Steve asks pleadingly. You heal at this suggestion, starving. Dustin agrees so long as they address the car issue, but Steve suddenly remembers “that the Russian took his keys during the interrogation...”  
As the elevator arrives at the ground level, You and Steve laughingly taste the air, but an armed officer arrives at the scene, and so Dustin and Erica rush everyone back inside.

Erica is holding your hand, dragging you along to the movie theater  
“What about the food??” You ask, hunger clawing at your throat.  
Dustin leads the group as he takes the three of them behind and the back and into the movie theatre front, where “Back to The Future” is playing. He lets you and Steve settle on one end, while he, Erica, and Robin sit on the other end of the front row. You and Steve steal some popcorn from an empty seat and indulge yourselves on it  
“I have no idea what I going on” you admit  
“It’s okay babe- neither do I” he says, sticking his tongue out people who give you dirty looks for talking.  
“Wanna get out of here?” He whispers  
“Yeah!” 

Steve drinks from the water fountain just outside the movie theater  
“I think the mom tried to bang her kid..!”  
You say  
“But they are the same age-?” His brows furrow, confused  
“Why is it called back to the future?” He questions  
You push him away from the fountain, giggling  
“Woah-“ Steve breathes, gazing at the ceiling  
“(Y/n)! Look at this!” He yells, gesturing at the ceiling  
You spin around, linking hands with Steve.  
“Oooh..” you say, entranced by the dancing lights.  
“It’s almost as pretty as you!” Steve says, attempting to be so moth in his drunken state.  
You push him. That’s when you see robin looking around frantically. She sees the both of you and runs up. You look back at the ceiling and start spinning again, smiling and laughing. Then it’s starts getting closer, and brighter. You start getting nauseous and are about to spit up. You run into the restroom, not caring where Steve is at the moment.

Bile burns at your throat after vomiting over the toilet repeatedly. You walk up to the sink, inspecting the stains on your shirt. You slink out of the filthy, blood soaked shirt and hold it under the tap. You look in the mirror, dried blood on your brow, bruises on your forehead and jaw, long slice from your ear to the tip of your chin.  
You bend over and try to scrub all the filth off of you, the gouges and slices on your legs burn when you try to scrub them. you wring our your shirt and realize maybe that wasn’t so smart. Now you don’t have a shirt.  
“Shit.” You mutter 

You glance out of the door, seeing nobody you rush into the men’s restroom, praying that besides Steve and Robin are present. 

You walk in seeing Steve and robin chuckling, then Steve notices you.  
“What the hell?” Your ignore him as you address robin  
“I tried to wash the blood off of my shirt- but it’s all wet now and I can’t wear it..” Robin looks up and understands  
“Give me 10 minutes.” With that she parades out

You slide down the bathroom stall, cold biting against your bare back.  
“Are you okay?” Steve asks, averting his gaze from your chest. You bring your knees up closer to your body, relishing the heat your skin is giving off.  
“Yea- I guess”  
“As good as you can be?”  
“As good as I can be” your repeat, nodding your head. He wraps his arms around your smaller form, pulling you to his chest. You stay like this for a while, eventually your breathing becomes one and you close your eyes, not wanting to see the harsh lighting of the restroom. 

Robin walks in, jacket in hand. She throws it at you and says  
“Best I could do, gear up.” You comply and zip the jacket up, enjoying the slight warmth that it provides. You all walk back into the theater, holing that you don’t look too conspicuous. 

The audience applauds at the end of the movie and Dustin tells the group to  
“Try and blend in with the crowd, maybe we can sneak onto the bus.”  
“easy as pie” Erica says sarcastically  
“Y-you can’t go home.” Steve warns  
“Why?”  
“We accidentally gave away your location..” Steve mumbles, guilt written on his face.  
“Wha-“ dustin starts before robin interrupts him saying,  
“Move- he saw us” she said, gesturing towards a large man walking briskly toward the group of you, fists balled.  
You find an escalator and slide down the middle, causing quit a ruckus.  
Everybody is leaving you notice, panicking. 

The mall is deathly silent, the only sounds are russian soldiers and the crackle of radios. You are all hidden behind a counter, trying to controls your breathing. Steve’s arm is wrapped around your shoulders, squeezing you tightly. You hear heavy footsteps growing louder, then the sound of a honking car. You look at Steve, who glances at you, expression befuddled. 

You hesitantly walk out from behind the counter, ready to fight at the slightest movement. You see a small figure, holding her hand up in a claw type form.  
“El..” you breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry if the reader shirtless thing was weird I just thought that it would be dusty Gaston if they walked around Ina shirt covered in blood and bile so I made them wash it but then it would be all wet so this is how it turned out and I feel bad if it sounded like I was trying to oversexualize reader I swear I want it just turned out like that sorry.


	6. The Mindflayer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven looses her powers and Billy finds you

Steve v3.6

Eleven screams in pain, Mike holding her tight, trying to console her. Robin tries to alleviate the situation, saying that   
“one time during soccer, a girl’s whole bone came out of knee” and how Eleven’s going to be fine. Steve tells Robin that’s not helping. Suddenly, Jonathan arrives and brings El a wooden spoon to bite down on you are confused until he walks up to a burner stove and puts a knife over the flame. It begins turning purple, then red from the contact. 

You try and ready the young girl, pressing down on her arms while nancy and Steve do her legs. Her head rest in a distressed mikes lap.   
“Ready?” Jonathan asks, bringing the knife over. She whimpers and nods. You hand her the spoon and she clamps down on it with her teeth.   
He begins to cut into her leg, she screams, tears streaming down on her cheeks. Jonathan reaches into the cut, trying to pull out the creature. Eleven screams in severe pain,   
“Stop-!!” She pants  
“I-I can do it-“ her voice wavers   
She begins to lift the creature out of her leg, crying in pure agony. All the glass shatters behind you, raining down on your heads. She tosses the small slug away and slumps back into mike, crying. 

“Max-!” You yell at your sister, rushing towards her and wrapping her in a tight hug.   
“Are you okay?” You both ask, checking for injuries. She found the bruises on your face and brushed her finger against the cut on your brow.   
“What happened..?” She asks softly   
You all finally trade stories, Lucas tells Hopper the creature destroyed his cabin. And Nancy reconfirms that this big fleshy spider thing is the Mindflayer’s big weapon made from melted people, and Joyce asks if they are sure it’s still alive, and Max says El beat the shit out of it, but yes, it’s still alive. Lucas says if they close the gate again they should kill it.   
“YooHoos” Murray says and grabs everyone’s attention.

He shows them   
“‘The Hub’ which should take su to the gateway. I believe that the vault should be closer to the gate, maybe 50-feet-“ but Erica interrupts and corrects them, that it’s in fact   
“500 with long corridors surrounded by guards.” Erica and Murray exchange names, the small girl calling him Mr. Bun-man, and claims that   
“if the group follows his plan we’ll die.”  
“It’s true-“ Dustin says and decides to show the hatch that leads to an underground ventilation system which goes around the guards.   
“I can navigate the vents with Erica?” Dustin offers, having done it before.  
“No.” Hopper interjects 

Moments later the chief of police scavenge guns from the dead Russians  
“Anybody who goes down there is going to die.” Dustin says, Erica nodding in agreement.   
“You survived-!” Will chimes in, looking guilty. Lucas looks at him and knows what to do.   
“Hey man we are sorry for ditching you- we could have used each other in this fight...” Dustin looks up, hopeful  
Then mike turns to will and apologizes   
“And I’m sorry for not playing D&D with you- it was selfish.” Will looks at him, resolve crumbling. Dustin walks up to them all and hug, Max watches in amusement then joins them. 

You walk over to Steve, who is trying to break into a display case for some pretzels.   
“Need some help?” You offer him, hoisting up a bent piece of metal.   
“Sure.” You smashed it on the glass, it shattering everywhere in large jagged spikes.   
“Thanks (y/n)” he says, offering you a pretzel. You bite Into it, savoring how the salt melts in your mouth.   
You dig out a cinnamon pretzel, then another normal one for Max. You look at Steve, stepping closer to inspect his wounds.   
“How do you always manage to get the shit beat out of you, Harrington?”   
“The same way you always manage to get hurt first” he responds, taking your face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed you, wrapping you in an embrace.  
“Break it up you two!” Will yells, motioning you to come over. You walk over, Steve’s arms round you.

Hopper tosses A walkie to Dustin,   
“Help us navigate from someplace safe” he orders   
“This signal won’t reach.” Dustin tells him, fumbling to catch it.   
“We need a high enough frequency band to relay with Russians radio tower.” And “that he’ll need someone who’s seen their comms room and has access to a superpowered handcrafted radio tower, who conveniently has one placed at the highest point in Hawkins’ — “ all of which points directly to Dustin. Hopper reluctantly agrees.   
“We need a head start on the car..” 

Steve drives away, leaving you to wait for his return. 

You carry Eleven to the trunk of a car, letting the poor girl rest. You sit in the back with Mike and Max. Nancy tries to start the car but it’s not working   
“Do you want me to try?” You ask as she climbs out of the car   
“Sure, why not?” You get into the front seat and turn the keys, the car shudders but doesn’t start.   
“Can you guys pop the hood?” You inquire, you see Jonathan nod then he disappears from your vision, replacing him with a chrome hood of a car.   
“The- the ignition cables gone...” you hear Jonathan say in a confused tone. You glance out of the window and see. Headlights, then hear the reviving of an engine. Billy’s engine.   
“Shit! Get out of the car! Get into the mall!” You yell at the kids and Nancy, you see Max look up in terror, she knows it’s Billy too.   
“Jonathan! Grab el!” You hear Mike scream, worried about his girlfriend. 

“Scoops troop!” Mike yells into his walkie talkie   
“Scoops troop come in! We are in trouble! Billy has disabled our getaway vehicle!” He tries to signal Dustin. No response. 

You see nancy load a gun,   
“Are you going to shoot billy?” Max asks softly  
“No- it’s just a precaution” Nancy says, unconvincingly.   
“Also the gun is for the mild flayer- he probably knows we are here now..” Will says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Nancy looks at the flipped over car joking questions that   
“there’s no chance that’ll drive?” Which makes Jonathan realizes, that   
“it doesn’t have to — we just need the car’s ignition cable.”

“One- two- three!” Will orders, you all try and topple the car over so you can access the ignition cable.   
You grunt in pain as the metal scrapes against your wounds. You get it halfway up, and it falls back down with a loud clang.   
“Wait- I can do it-“ Eleven offers, limping over.   
“El-“ mike starts but she cuts him off by putting her hand up, trying to lift the car. The car shudders, but doesn’t lift. She drops her arm in defeat. 

You grab your bent piece metal and wedge it under the car, Dustin and Will follow suit. Jonathan grunts, all of you trying to maneuver the car over. You push hard, ignoring the burning in your thighs and arms. It finally overturns, Nancy and Jonathan rushing over to search for the missing piece. 

You walk away, searching for a more suitable weapon. None of the guns where loaded, useless. You look over and see Max and Eleven talking, the latter looking terrified. You are about to walk over when you see Mike, you decide not to intervene. You hear a low rumble, then a crash. Some sort of grotesque monster, white things poking out everywhere, it’s great maws filled with blood soaked teeth. You scream for Max, as you run to a hiding place.   
“Griswald family! Come in-!” You hear Steve’s voice on the walkie. You don’t turn around and hear a bloodcurdling scream, then the crushing of the walkie. 

You are hiding behind the trashed counter of the pretzel stand, bent piece of metal in hand. You hear the monster lumbers around, awful squelching sounds following it. You hear something being knocked over and risk a peek behind you.   
“Max-“ you realize, and before you even think about it you scream   
“Hey fat bastard! Come and get me!” You scream swinging your scrap metal over your head. It’s turns to you and bellows in fury, ignoring you and searching the mall for eleven.   
“over here!!” You scream, terrified now, anything to get hem away from the kids. You see Lucas holding his wrist rocket up, then the sound of a popping balloon. It turns and shuffled toward the sound, they manage to get out through the door, and you sprint towards the main exit.

You frantically hop into the car , screaming for Jonathan to   
“Get our of here!” You hear billy revving his engine,   
“Shit! Billy’s still here!” Lucas screams, recognizing the sound. You turn as billy floors it, the car screaming across the parking lot. Nancy starts unloading bullets, trying to hit billy. The last bullet drops, leaving you defenseless and stuck. You hear music, then the roars of tires as a yellow convertible smashed into Billy’s car, his hood bursts into flame, causing the air above it to ripple from the heat. Billy doesn’t move. Steve and robin hop out of the car and rush towards the door, banging on the window telling you to   
“Open up!”   
You bounce out of the car, robin sliding in then Steve   
“Where are you going to sit?” Steve asks, brows furrowing   
“I will squeeze in the back” you say, pointing your thumb in that direction. Steve grabs you in through the car door, pulling you onto his lap. You make a strangled sound from the sudden movement, wrapping you a right embrace,   
The car starts, and Jonathan floors it, trying to distract the mind flayer from the kids.   
“Are you okay?” Steve pulls back slightly, inspecting for more wounds   
“Are you hurt?” You shake your head, then ask him   
“What happened? Did it work?” He tells you all that happened, then you told your story.   
“You jumped in front of the monster?!” He yells, furious that you would do something so dumb   
“I needed to save the kids-“ you where cut off by the radio buzzing on, the voice of Dustin and another girl you don’t recognize.  
“Planks constant- I need planks constant” you hear Dustin say over the radio.   
“Not after you sing-!” She says, voice mildly annoyed.   
“Alright Suzie-poo” you and everyone else realize that this is Suzie, Max looks surprised while Will looks saddened.   
You hear Dustin singing   
“The neverEnding story?” You ask, bewildered   
The song goes on for a long time, seemingly, neverEnding.   
“Planck’s constant 6.62607004” the smile visible through her voice. 

You see the creature stopping   
“It’s turning around!” Lucas yells   
“It’s going after eleven- billy must be awake.” You say.   
Jonathan abruptly spins the wheel, turning it around.   
You topple off of Steve’s lap, hitting your head on Robin’s shoulder  
“I’m sorry-!” You blurt, rubbing your head as you try to right yourself. Steve wraps his arms around you, them acting as seatbelts.  
“Fireworks-!” Lucas suddenly remembers  
“I have fireworks!”   
“So what?” Robin asks   
“They are Satan’s Baby, a few of those equals a stick of dynamite”   
“How is that legal??” Steve asks,   
“We can throw them at the Mindflayer and distract it- or if we’re lucky, hurt it” Will says, first time he has spoken since you got into the car. 

You grab some fireworks, and a lighter. To your left a determined Will and Lucas, to your right an antsy Steve, hopping from foot to foot.   
“Let’s go.”


	7. The battle of starcourt mall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You attack the mindflayer

“Flay this you ugly piece of shit!” Lucas hollers as he starts throwing fireworks at the creature. It roars in outrage as you all continue pummeling it with explosives. 

From the opposite side, Jonathan and Nancy also drop fireworks, and from a third side, Steve also throws some with Robin, while calling the monster an asshole.  
From the fourth side you scream and fling firecrackers at the beast, you see Billy drop, writhing in pain. The Eleven, dragging herself along, trying to get away. But Billy sees her, grabs her by the foot and drags her toward the steps below the suffering beast. He begins to choke the girl  
“Oh shit- Someone help el!” You scream as loud as you can, trying to alert anybody.

Back above, Nancy throws another big firework but yells she’s almost out. Steve signals to Dustin that they’re out of time. 

You toss the last firework, screaming that you are out.   
The creature encroaches on Eleven. Mike and max arrive, and Billy is the only thing standing in the Mindflayer’s way. As the creature reaches out to kill Eleven, Billy sticks his arms out in, yelling and screaming at the creature. It proceeds to stab in from almost every direction, as Billy sacrifices himself to save Eleven. Screaming as the creature uses one final tendril to stab Billy right in the chest,   
“Billy-!” Max and you scream. 

Tears flood your eyes as you run down the still escalator, you speed towards max as she holds Billy’s hand.   
You stand as he dies, and with his last words he looks You and Max in the eyes and say   
“I’m- sorry-“ Max’s small body is racked with sobs, speechless. You wrap your arms around her, tears clouding your vision. 

You walk out of the mall, arm wrapped around your kid sister. She walked over to Lucas, who was sitting on the back of a ambulance. You stand in the middle of the parking lot, searching for Steve. Instead you find a crying Eleven, you realize what must have happened  
“Jim—“ you breath,   
Strong arms steer you to a separate vehicle, sitting you down then wrapping his arms around you.   
“(Y/n)?” He says softly   
“I’m sorry-“ his voice wavers   
You both mourn in silence, tears streaming down your cheeks. You shudder, Steve bringing you closer to his chest, kissing the top of your head. 

“What where you going to say- down in the lab” you inquire,   
He hesitates before admitting   
“I was going to say; I’d we die I just want you to know—“ he falters  
“I love you-“


	8. Three months later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You say goodbye to the Byers and start a new life with steve

Three months later 

You wait outside of ‘family video’ as Steve and robin get interviewed for jobs. You see Steve stumble across his words awkwardly, leaning on the counter.   
A few minutes later he walks out of the store, smiling   
“I got the job!”   
“Alright, time to go say goodbye to the Byers.”  
You wave at robin as she gets in her car, driving away. 

“I can’t believe they are moving away-“ Steve says, driving the car   
“I feel bad for Mike..”  
Steve nods. 

You step into the house, hearing the neverEnding story being sung. You walk over to Will, who dumps his D&D board in the donation box.   
“are you sure?” Mike asks   
“what if you want to play with another party?” Mike follows up sadly   
“Thats not possible. I will never join another party...” you smile, they will always be friends 

You hug Eleven goodbye   
“Thank you for being Max’s friend” you whisper   
“And if you ever need any help- or just want to talk to Max, here’s our numbers” you say, offering her two small slips of paper.   
Then you go to Will, he hugs you even through he barely knows you.   
You look at Joyce and nod, her eyes looked broken and sad. You went to Jonathan and say   
“You take good care of El okay?”   
“You take good care of Nancy” you both nod, parting ways.

You and Steve walk into your room, grabbing your things and leaving. You and Steve are moving into a small apartment that his parents bought, according to Steve because   
“They want me out of the house. Now.” And he asked you if you wanted to move in with him, get away from your broken “family” and you accepted. You and Steve agreed that Max could have her own room, and she could stay whenever she wanted. It was near the collage, so Steve could drive you to your classes. 

You settle down, bag of popcorn in your lap. Steve clicked on the remote, turning on the TV. You snuggled in to your new couch, new life just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like me to do small oneshots from this stories universe please comment and tell me so!


End file.
